


Flames of an Ocean

by NikAdair



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Magick School AU, Mutual Pining, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Teachers Shiro and Allura, they/them pidge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 10:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18849439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikAdair/pseuds/NikAdair
Summary: When two opposing forces collide, the results can be disastrous. In the case of magick, sparks fly. Here though, where magick is the norm of this world, sparks fly when two boys - one of fire and one of water - meet, in more ways than one. And when they fall for each other, is there anyway they could ever be together?





	Flames of an Ocean

**Author's Note:**

> My fic for the Klance Pinefest! This idea was a lot of fun and I want to revisit this fic sometime in the future and do a rewrite with a lot of the things I couldn’t add. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!  
> Beta’d by Zenstrike (tumblr) - Bless them for beta-ing this and for helping me get over my doubts of this fic. I had way too many times where I just wanted to trash the whole thing.

Keith readjusted the straps of his bag as he walked down the cobblestone path, looking up at the building in front of him: massive oak doors set into weather worn stone walls, various windows emitting a warm yellow glow onto the grass in front, ivy stretching along the walls, twisting around windows as though it were a living creature. The early morning light behind it cast a long shadow on the yard.

He shivered a little as he walked, sparks flickering from his hands. Keith shook them, focusing on the walk. He felt them flicker and fade, and a sense of calm washed over him. The smell of smoke filled his nose, causing him to sigh a little. Flame magick was an inconvenience, especially on days like this.

He saw a figure standing outside the school waving their hands. The ivy nearest them was moving with the hand movements, twisting and curving in the air and around their hands. Keith could tell who it was without needing to see their face. Even if he hadn’t seen the magick at work, he would’ve known. The hair was a dead give away.

“Hey Pidge,” he said, stopping in front of them. They jumped and the ivy fell back against the wall, tangling around their wrists. Pidge brushed the ivy away, glaring a little at him. Keith chuckled as he reached over to ruffle Pidge’s hair. They leaned back, inadvertently causing the ivy to move towards him. He raised his hands in defense and the ivy fell back.

“You can’t just do that Keith,” Pidge muttered. They went back to waving their hands, this time in smaller motions. Keith watched as instead of the entire vine of ivy moving, the leaves twisted this way and that. He could see the nervous energy they felt in the way the leaves twitched, in the sharp direction changes between movements.

“Seems like I can,” he said with a smirk. Pidge sent him another glare, the leaves reflecting their irritation. He chuckled again, bringing his hand toward the leaves. A small flame formed, and he watched as the leaves curled away from his touch. Pidge made a noise and Keith extinguished the flame. The tips of the closest leaves smoked a little, the charred bits turning green again as Pidge let their magick heal it.

“Don’t burn the ivy,” Pidge said, dropping their hands. The ivy fell back against the wall again, and they turned to face him. He smiled innocently at them, and they glared back. Pidge rolled their eyes, their hands gripping the straps of their bag. “So, ready for classes?” Keith felt his stomach twist a little at the thought, but he kept his face neutral.

“Yeah. Though why they start this early is beyond me.” There was a tingling in his hand, heat starting to build on his palm. He shook his hand, feeling it dissipate a little. Pidge tilted their head a little, their eyes trained on his hand. Keith tucked it behind his back, frowning. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”

Pidge stared a moment longer before turning and pushing open the doors. Keith squinted a little as they were engulfed in yellow light and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. When he could open his eyes without being blinded, he saw a massive entrance. Statues and paintings lined the walls. A mix of candles and chandeliers bathed the hall with light. Directly ahead of them was a branching staircase.

He and Pidge started up the stairs, and as he looked up, he saw that each branch of stairs led in different directions. The one to the right went up a few stories before stopping, while the one to the left seemed to go up further. Keith couldn’t even guess at how far it went. He had a feeling he was going to get lost a lot this year, and that made him anxious.

“This way,” Pidge say, tugging at his sleeve. They pulled him towards the staircase on the right, and they climbed a few floors before turning down a hallway. It was dimmer there, the only light coming from the sun as it rose. It was less harsh, easier to see. Keith looked out the windows as they walked: trees stretched along the far side of the yard, down to a lake. The water looked almost black from where he stood, the sunlight unable to reach it this early.

The hallway ended in a door, and Keith felt his hands warm up again. He counted to ten, feeling the warmth slowly leave. He was starting to get annoyed at how often his magick was sparking, but didn’t have much time to focus on it as the door flung open. A ball of water hit shot out and hit his face, splitting open and soaking the front of his clothes.

“Oh jeez, I’m sorry!!” a male voice called as he walked towards them. Keith shook his head, hearing Pidge laugh. He sent a quick glare their way before turning his attention to the boy in front of him. He was tall with a mop of messy chestnut hair. His skin was significantly darker than Keith’s, as though he lived his life in the sun. Ocean blue eyes looked back at him, guilt written in them.

“Are you okay? God, this is the worst first impression I could be making,” the boy said, looking him over. Keith shook his head again, flinging water, and brought his hands to his clothes. They started to glow orange, and heat radiated off them. His skin dried quickly, as did his hair. His clothes took longer to dry, but after a minute, it was as though the water had never hit him.

The boy watched him, his eyes clouded with several emotions that Keith couldn’t decipher. “You have… flame magick, don’t you?” he said quietly. Keith looked at him curiously, and the boy shook his head. He stuck a hand out, a wide smile plastered on his face. “The name’s Lance.” Keith eyed it wearily before taking it. It was cool, very distinct from the warmth his hands normally had.

“My name’s Keith,” he said, pulling his hand away quickly. He wasn’t too keen on knowing someone who had drenched him before classes even started. The sudden movement seemed to ruffle Lance, and he crossed his arms, frowning a little. Keith saw Pidge already finding a seat, and wondered when they had walked in. Lance stayed quiet, looking at him with a displeased look.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” Keith muttered, pushing his way into the room. He didn’t miss the way Lance glared at him, but didn’t pay him any mind. He walked over to where Pidge sat, dropping into the chair next to them. Pidge had taken out a short length of ivy, and Keith could see green mist surrounding one end, the ivy slowly lengthening. He watched as it grew a few inches, leaves slowly sprouting from the side of the vine.

He turned his gaze from the ivy to the classroom. It wasn’t anything too grand - desks set in neat rows behind him, open in the front of the room, a larger desk set off to the side. There was a chalkboard that lined the front wall, a few windows set into the side walls, allowing for the morning sunlight to illuminate the room along with the candles the floated around.

Bookshelves stood between the windows, filled with various books that Keith assumed had to do with spell casting. He recognized a few of them, the more worn ones, where the spines were cracked and frayed, and the edges of the pages looked a little torn. Others had that glossy look to them, as though they’d never been opened and only recently placed on the shelves.

The room was filled with various voices coming from the other students. Keith saw some of them showing off their magick, trying to impress others. There was a boy that looked to be about his age sitting a few desks down. He was making small movements with his hands, causing the clay sitting in front of him to move and deform, twisting and turning in a similar way that he’d seen Pidge manipulate plants.

As he watched, Lance walked over, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulders. The boy jumped, the figure he was making suddenly losing its shape and stretching awkwardly. He looked at Lance, a scowl set on his face, and he said something Keith couldn’t hear. Lance laughed, taking the clay and molding it with his hands. He set it back on the table, a crude animal taking place of the disfigured figure. The boy swiped the clay off the table, and Lance laughed again, walking around and sitting in the chair next time to him.

Lance turned and caught Keith looking at him. Keith frowned, looking back down at the ivy Pidge had. They’d gotten it to curl around their hand, the vine wrapping around their wrist and the leaves laying flat against their skin. It reminded him of the way his flames would curl around his hands at times, spreading out along his arm. It was always calming to watch them flicker and lick at his skin.

He’d always been a little jealous of Pidge’s magick. They could manipulate plant life, cause them to grow and bloom, age them, and move them to their will. He learned that last one the hard way when they were younger: Pidge lost one game of tag and suddenly Keith was hanging upside from a tree, leaves wrapped around his ankles. Had it not been for his own magick, he would’ve been stuck there until his brother got him. That memory made him smile a little.

The smell of electricity filled his nose and he looked up, branches of white crackling through the air towards the front of the room. There were sounds of awe from students as they took their seats. Keith rolled his eyes, sighing as he turned to look at the door. More lightning crackled as a figure stepped through the door, his coat flaring out behind him as he walked to the front of the room. He couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter as he watched his brother’s entrance.

“Good morning class, and welcome to Magick Manipulation and Combination,” he said, turning to face the class. His eyes landed in Keith, who burst out laughing, causing the professor to scowl at him. “And what’s so funny, Mr. Kogane?”

Keith swiped at the tears that had started forming from laughing and took a moment to calm down before he responded. “Nothing at all, Mr. Shirogane. I’m sorry for disrupting class.” He scowled at Keith again, but turned his attention back to the rest of the class.

“As I was saying,” he sent a look to Keith, “welcome to Magick Manipulation and Combination. This year you will be paired up with another student and use your magick to create a spell that works with your types of magick.” Voices filtered throughout the room at this, friends talking with each other about what they would do.  Shiro cleared his throat, and Keith felt the hair’s on his arm stand up, knowing the look he had. The class quieted down, the silent buzz of excitement almost as palpable as the electricity in the air.

“The purpose of this class is to get you acquainted with how your magick interacts with another’s, and how to manipulate your own to work effectively with the other’s.” His eyes scanned the room, and Keith rolled his eyes again. He hated this class already. He already knew that fire magick wouldn’t mix well with anyone else’s. It was too wild and uncontrollable to do anything but harm with other’s magick.

“I’ll be assigning you partners-” a collective groan came from the class, “-and see what you guys can do upon your first meeting.” Keith zoned out, not caring about who the other students were paired with. He perked up when he heard Pidge’s name. “Pidge, you’ll be paired with Hunk.”

Both he and Pidge turned their heads, seeing the boy that sat next to Lance wave over at them. Pidge gave him a small wave, tilting their head a little. Keith knew they’d seen how he had manipulated the clay at the beginning of class, and he would bet anything that they were already analysing and finding ways to combine that with their plant magick.

“...and finally, Keith, you’ll be with Lance.” Keith whipped his head forward, staring wide-eyed at Shiro. He slowly turned to look at Lance, and saw the horrified expression he had. There was no way they’d be able to work together. Their magicks were too different. Keith turned back to look at Shiro.

“Shi- Mr. Shirogane, are you sure that’s a good idea? Our magicks are polar opposites, there’s no way we’ll be able to work together,” Keith said, keeping his voice steady. Shiro looked at him and crossed his arms.

“The fact that you two have such different magicks is a good thing.” His eyes scanned the class. “Being able to make differing magicks work well together is the key to this class. It’s also a great way to see the limits of your magick.” He looked back at Keith. “You will still be expected to find a way to make it work.”

Keith crossed his arms, glaring a little at Shiro before turning to look at Lance. He had that annoying horrified look on his face still, but there was something different about it. It was less that he didn’t want to work with him, and more something else. Something that Keith couldn’t place. Lance looked over at him, and Keith looked away, slumping in his seat.

“Now then, with partner assignments out of the way, let’s see what you can come up with on the first day,” Shiro said. He called pairs down to the front to have them show off what they could do. Keith had no interest in knowing what they could do, his mind distracted with how he was going to get anything accomplished with Lance.

His interest was briefly brought to a few pairs. One pair, James and Ryan, used wind and ice magick, and had managed to make a miniature snow storm. Flakes drifted over to Keith’s desk and landed on his hand. He lit a small flame and melted the snow away, and when he looked back up, he saw James glaring at him. He shot him a glare back.

Another pair, Rizavi and Leifsdottir, used light and plant magick. He saw Pidge perk up at this pair, and could imagine them taking mental notes of how Leifsdottir used her magick. She caused petals to float and swirl through the air, and Rizavi manipulated the light to shine through the petals, tracking them as they moved.

“Very good you two! Up next is Pidge and Hunk.” Keith sat up, curious at what they would do. Pidge wound the ivy around their hand and walked to the front of the room. They stood next to Hunk, who held the clay in his hands. He looked over at Pidge, and there seemed to be some unspoken understanding between them.

Hunk moved his hands, the clay to taking shape into a simple wall, outcroppings forming occasionally. He made a movement with his hand and the clay stiffened, seeming to dry out as he held it. He passed it to Pidge, who held it in the hand that the ivy was wrapped around. They used a finger to create a bridge between the wall and the ivy, the end a few inches away

Using their free hand, they manipulated the plant, making it move and crawl up the wall. Halfway up, Hunk started to move his hands, twisting them and making stretching motions, and the wall started shifting, despite the dry appearance. The edges curled on themselves, creating a tower of sorts as the ivy continued to climb. Windows opened up and the leaves that Pidge grew flared out of them.

The tower grew and shifted, seeming to accommodate the ever winding ivy inside, despite not being able to be seen. It was as though there was a connection between the clay and the ivy - an unspoken connection that kept the tower moving without the need for a visual. Keith couldn’t tell what was going on inside, but he had a feeling.

Pidge had a habit of taking cups and glasses and allowing vines to wrap around the inside of them when they were bored. Keith imagined that was what they were doing, creating small vines that moved along with cracks in the clay, wrapping around the inner walls. The leaves pouring out the windows were the only hint as to what they were doing.

The growing tower came to a halt, from what Keith guessed was due to the walls becoming too thin. The ivy continued to grow, pouring out the top and curling around the outside of the tower. They curled down and wrapped around their hand, stopping where the vine started. Green mist drifted out of the windows, mixing with the yellow mist that lingered from the top of the tower.

It was small, nothing too magnificent, but the fact that the ivy was enclosed, unable to be seen, and the tower was able to move and mold itself to what it was doing without Hunk being able to see it was truly impressive. Keith looked around and he could see people leaned over their desks to see it better. He smiled with pride at his friend.

“That was amazing you two! I don’t think I’ve had a pair be able to do something like that so early on before!” Shiro praised. Hunk smiled shyly, scratching the back of his head, and Pidge smiled, unweaving the ivy and having it retreat up their sleeve. They handed the clay back to Hunk and walked back over to Keith.

“How did you do that?” he whispered to them. Pidge smirked and winked, going back to manipulating the ivy again. Keith looked at them for another second before looking forward. Shiro called another pair down, and Keith watched in disinterest as they went - more pairs of compatible magick that made him scowl.

“Alright, time for our last pair. Keith, Lance, if you will.” Keith sighed, already knowing this wasn’t going to end well. He walked to the front of the room, standing to one side of Shiro, and Lance made his way to the other. The horrified expression was gone, but he still seemed reserved, completely different from how he’d looked when they first met.

“Let’s see what you two can do,” Shiro said, taking a step back. Keith looked at Lance, waiting for him to do something, and when he didn’t, Keith sighed. He made a small flame in his hand, and held it out to Lance.

“Float some water over this, I have an idea,” Keith said. Lance nodded hesitantly, opening the bottle he had. His hands shook a little as he formed a floating sphere of water. He stepped closer, allowing the sphere to float above Keith’s hand. Keith burned the flame higher, letting it lick around the edge of the sphere.

He looked up at Lance through the slowly boiling water sphere. “Keep it from bubbling apart.” Lance nodded, his hands moving closer to the water. The water started to heat up, turning various shades of orange as it worked towards a bright yellow. Steam rolled off the top, and the sides bubbled under the surface of the water. Lance concentrated, biting his lip.

Keith looked back at his flames, starting to roll them up the water. He glanced at Lance and saw that the fear was back in Lance’s eyes, and he lost control of the water. Purple sparks starting flying from it, and he pulled his hands away, the water falling towards Keith’s hands. Keith jerked away in time to avoid the scalding water, steam pouring off the puddle of water on the floor. He looked up at Lance angrily.

“What are you doing?” Keith said, seething. Lance looked up at him, fear still in his eyes. “Why did you let go of the water? Were you trying to scald me?” he spat. The fear slowly turned to anger as Lance stepped closer to him, into the water.

“What was I doing? What were you doing? Were you going to burn me?” Lance spat back. Keith narrowed his eyes at him, stepping towards him, the hot water seeping into his shoes.

“Do you really think I don’t have any control over my magick?” Sparks started forming in his hands, and he balled his fists. He felt cold taking the place of the heat at his feet and he glanced down at the floor. Ice started forming where Lance stood, spreading to Keith’s side of the puddle. He concentrated on his feet and the ice started melting, turning orange as the heat seeped in.

Where the heat and the ice met, purple sparks flared up, shooting up in the space between them. Both boys stopped moving, their gazes caught by the purple sparks. They jumped as Shiro walked towards them, laying his hands on their shoulders. Keith looked up at him, wondering if the sparks were from him, but Shiro shook his head slightly.

“Opposing magicks are harder to control than others, but you guys did well with what you had. You can take your seats now.” Keith glanced at Lance, his anger fading, and he saw that Lance’s eyes had lost some of that anger, as well as the fear. It seemed like his eyes were shining, and something about them made it hard for Keith to look away.

“Keith,” Shiro whispered, and he shook his head, looking away from Lance and walking back to his seat, drying his shoes as he went. There was still a slight chill from where the ice had come in contact with them, but he guessed it was because it was magick that had caused it. His hands buzzed with energy, and he did everything he could to make them relax.

He glanced over at Lance, seeing if he was buzzing with the same energy, but when he looked over, he saw him laid across his desk, head resting on crossed arms. He looked troubled, drained. Hunk was whispering to him, but it didn’t seem like Lance was paying attention. He turned his head, catching Keith’s eyes for a second before Keith looked away, feeling twitchy.

“Keith, you have fire tips,” Pidge whispered, nudging his arm. He looked at his hand, finding small flames adorning his fingers. He flicked his hand, putting them out. He glared at it, feeling the warmth dissipate. Shiro looked at him as the class quieted down and Keith shook his head. He quirked an eyebrow but turned his attention to the class.

The rest of class was spent explaining the various applications for the magick that the class had exhibited. Plant magick was used mostly with alchemists and apothecaries, as the ability to grow and age plants is very helpful in these fields. Earth magick was used mostly in construction and disaster relief areas. Light magick had its uses in conjunction with plant magick, and normally there would be a user of each in those areas. Wind magick was an unusual one, as it wasn’t used much in common fields. This matched up with ice magick, though there was an increase in use of that magick due to global climate change.

“Water magick, as versatile as it is, has a multitude of uses. Some people work alongside alchemists and apothecaries to ensure the plants are properly watered. Others find jobs in fields that deal directly with water, such as aquatic life research or even deep sea research if they’re advanced enough in using their magick,” Shiro explained. It was honestly not something Keith had ever thought about, since it had never crossed his mind.

The toll of a bell signalled the end of class and as students were cleaning up their things and getting ready to leave, one student called out a question. “Mr. Shirogane, what about fire magick?” Keith felt himself stiffen, and he looked at Shiro, who in turn looked at him before looking at the student.

“We’ll cover that another time in class. In the meantime, you’re always welcome to visit the library and research that yourself.” A generic answer, meant to deflect the question. Keith knew Shiro was only doing it to keep him from being hurt. He didn’t need to. Keith already knew the uses for fire magick. He’d been told it over and over since he was first able to use it.

When his magick first manifested, he’d been playing outside his childhood home. He’d picked up a stick, ready to play swordsmen with Shiro, when it started to burn. Shiro had freaked out and ran forward, knocking the stick out of his hand and stamping on it before he looked at Keith. There were a few flames licking at his hand, but he wasn’t in pain and it didn’t burn.

He’d been taken straight to his mom, who had crouched down and looked at him with a small smile. “You’ve got rare magick,” she’d told him, “rare and old and dangerous.” She reached forward, ruffling his hair. “My little dragon has finally found his flame.” At the time, he didn’t know what she meant when she had said that. A few years later he did.

Keith had come home from school angry. A few of the other students had made fun of him, saying that his magick was only good for hurting people. That he’d never be able to control it. That he’d end up alone. He’d stormed up to his room, throwing himself in bed, watching as small blue flames jumped from finger to finger. After a while, he extinguished the flames, falling asleep.

His anger had burned even while he was asleep, and he awoke to a haze and a voice shouting at him. Orange and red painted his vision, and it took a moment to realize that the house had caught fire. He jumped out of bed, following the voice calling his name. It’d been Shiro, standing in the yard, his phone in hand. Sirens wailed in the distance as they approached their house.

“Shiro, where are mom and dad?” Keith had saw the tears streaking down his face. “Shiro, where are mom and dad?” he asked again, panic seeping into his voice. He never got an answer, and he had turned to run back inside. Shiro’s hand shot out, pulling him back and holding him as he fought against him. “Shiro let go! I need to get them out!”

The fire department had shown up a few minutes later, but it’d been a few minutes too late. His parents had been trapped in the living room, flames keeping them from being able to escape, neither of their magick able to do anything against it. As the firefighters got ready to go in to get them, the house had collapsed, the fire having burned the support beams to ash.

He didn’t use his magick after that. Every time he’d feel the tingle of energy, the memory of seeing his burning house collapse on his parents would flash in his mind, and he’d desperately make the energy go away. It was years before he was able to use it again without feeling panic and guilt swell in his chest. It was during that time that he truly came to terms with the fact that his magick had no use except for harm.

Keith snapped out of his thoughts at the wave of Pidge’s hand. Or really, the ivy on their hand. They were making it actually wave at him. “Earth to Keith, are you going to get up? We still have classes.” He shook his head, standing and stumbling away from the desk. Pidge snickered at him, and when he turned to look at them, they gave him an innocent look. He rolled his eyes, heading into the hall.

“So, any idea where Conjuring is?” Keith asked, slowing his steps so Pidge could catch up. They shrugged, and they both walked down the empty hallway. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, having broken through the clouds, and he basked in its warmth. Pidge had called him a cat once because of that, but he really liked to think of himself as a dragon.

“Take the left flight of stairs up two floors and it’s the second door on the right,” a voice said, causing both him and Pidge to jump. They turned to see a girl smiling at them. She had long silver hair that seemed to end at her knees. She had on a pastel sweater and white jeans. Her dark skin was a stark contrast to the white wash of everything else, and her green eyes seemed to glimmer as she smiled at them. “I’m Allura. It’s nice to meet you, Keith and Pidge.”

She stuck a hand out to shake theirs. Keith and Pidge looked at each other, having the same thought: how did she know their names? Pidge, always being the one to break the awkwardness, was the first to reach out to shake her hand. Keith hesitantly followed after them and was surprised by how strong of a grip Allura had. She pulled her hand away, clasping it behind her back with the other. “You should hurry, class starts in a minute.”

Keith and Pidge looked at each other again before taking off down the hall, hearing Allura giggling behind them. They barrelled down the hall to the landing and bounded up the stairs, Pidge taking two at a time and Keith three. They ran down the hall on that floor, towards the door, and Keith noticed that it seemed as though the people in the room were moving in slow motion. They were almost to the door, he blinked, and they were moving at normal speed again.

They slowed to a walk as they entered the room, taking the only available table. Keith sat back in his chair, breathing heavily. He turned his head to see Lance looking at him, an eyebrow quirked at him. The longer he looked, the more it felt like energy was gathering in his hands, and he quelled it, turning away. He felt that familiar heat fading, and he took a deep breath, using it to send the excess energy out of his body.

“Good morning class!” a voice sang out as someone walked in the door. They turned to look at who had walked in, finding Allura walking towards the front of the room. Keith and Pidge looked at each other, eyes wide. She leaned on the front of the desk, crossing her ankles as she surveyed the room. When her eyes landed on them, she winked knowingly before moving along.

“I’m Miss Altea, and welcome to Conjuring!” She spread her hands towards the class, and there were murmurs from various people of whether something was supposed to happen. She grinned and waited for the class to quiet. “Yes, I know, a lacklustre start to a magick class. But, how many of you were paying attention to the time?” There was more whispering as students looked down at watches and phones. Keith turned his attention to the clock standing in the corner of the room, an eyebrow quirked.

The hands seemed to be moving slowly, out of time, and it reminded Keith of what the room looked like as he and Pidge were running for the door. “My magick is a very rare one. It’s roots trace back through my family and my family alone. I specialise in time magick, and can manipulate it to my will.” Allura clapped and the clock hands started moving in real time again. He glanced at Pidge and knew they were thinking the same thing as him: she’d slowed time down so they could get to class on time.

“Since time magick is so rare and doesn’t take on a physical manifestation, I’ve had to learn how to use incantations and channel a secondary element to be able to perform conjuring.” She picked up a hand, creating a ball of light that rolled around on her hand with the ease of the flames that Keith could create. “I picked up light magick, a beautiful but often written off type of magick.” The ball settled on the palm of her hand, and she blew on it.

It bobbed through the air, seeming to pulsate with the light that came in through the open windows, and wove its way around students, darting through hair and over open books, before returning to her hand. She twirled a finger over it and it dissipated into the air. At the same time, a translucent rabbit formed, curiously crawling along her hand and up her arm to her shoulder.

“This is is what conjuring looks like through the use of light magick.” The rabbit walked across her shoulders, nuzzling its head against her cheek, before moving to her other hand and disappearing. “Your magick will determine what your conjuration will look like. Those of you who rely on physical materials to use your magick will have to learn to take the energy from that object and use it.”

He glanced at Pidge, who was looking down at their ivy strand. Conjuring was something they’d tried before, but had never succeeded in. The plant had always wilted, seeming to age beyond what Pidge was able to do. They looked worried, and Keith put a hand on their shoulder. “I’m sure Allura can explain how to do it without killing the plant,” he whispered. They looked at him and nodded, going back to looking at the ivy.

“Now, as it’s the first class and I believe in diving in head first, let’s see what you guys can do. Close your eyes and picture in your mind the form you want your magick to take.” Keith closed his eyes, not entirely certain what to think of. “Once you have that image, feel the energy moving to your hand and spinning it into that image.” The way Allura’s voice carried made him think that she was walking around the front of the room as she spoke.

He took a breath, and a memory floated into his mind. He clung to it, using it to create an image. He felt the tingle of energy in his hand, and instead of quelling it like he normally would, he let it collect. Warmth started to build in his hand, and when he opened his eyes, he smiled. There, peering up at him, was a dragon, just barely the size of his palm. Its wings flapped, as though it were testing them, and sneezed, puffs of smoke leaving it’s nostrils.

Its body was made of flickering reds and oranges, its eyes the colour of superheated flames - sapphire blue, a stark contrast to the warm colours surrounding them. He could barely see his hand through the flames, the ever shifting colours making it difficult to focus. Its wings were long, about half the length of its body, and it had a tail about the same length as the wings.

A shark made of water and glimmering shades of blue and green had ventured over to the dragon, startling it on its ascent up his arm. It jumped back to his hand, the shark following it. It sizzled where the heat of the dragon caught it, and the longer it hovered over his dragon, the more Keith could see purple sparks starting to appear. He closed his hand, the flames licking through the spaces between his fingers before fading away. The shark moved back to the desk beside him, and he turned to see Lance looking at him.

“So, dragon, why’s that?” Lance asked, his shark swimming circles around his hand. He turned his attention back to the shark, and Keith watched as it turned this way and that, sometimes swimming over to Hunk’s head, sometimes coming up to Lance’s face, the tip of its snout bumping into his nose.

“No reason,” he muttered. The only person who knew about the meaning behind the dragon was Shiro, and Keith had sworn him to secrecy. He didn’t like thinking back on those days. It was too painful for him to think about, to explain, and so he didn’t: too much guilt, years later. 

“No reason, huh? Well, I chose a shark because back home, sharks would come up to me, nuzzling me curiously, while I just stood in the ocean water. I think they came up to me because of my magick. They never hurt me, just gentle prods as though trying to figure out who I was,” Lance said, nostalgia peeking through his voice. Keith hadn’t thought about how different magicks could influence the way animals interacted with someone.

“Keith! Keith look!” He turned his head and saw an excited Pidge cradling a green mist bird in their hands. The same kind of mist that happened whenever Pidge used their magic. The bird hopped around, nipping curiously at the ivy wrapped around Pidge’s wrist. The ivy still looked alive and well, completely different from any of their previous attempts. They looked at him with happiness in their eyes and a wide smile on their lips.

“Pidge, this is amazing,” Keith said softly. Pidge beamed up at him, their eyes lighting up more at his comment. The bird chirped, flapping its wings and taking off and out of Pidge’s hands. It circled around their head while they giggled, flitting about in front of their face before landing on Keith’s hand. It felt different than his dragon. It was soft, like the way an ivy leaf felt. It was calming, the sadness he’d felt from remembering his past starting to seep away. The bird flew back over to Pidge, landing in their hands.

Allura came over, and she smiled. The bird flew up to her shoulder, nuzzling against her cheek. “Pidge, this is wonderful.” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, there was a knowing look in them. “Ivy, a cleanser of negativity, taken from the school walls.” Pidge blushed a little, pulling their sleeve down a little over their wrist. Allura smiled, sending the bird back to them.

“The fact that you were able to conjure something from such a fickle plant is extraordinary. Well done.” Pidge beamed up at her, and Allura switched her gaze to Keith. “And what about you, Keith? What did you conjure?” He felt his cheeks flare up and he turned away from her gaze. He looked over at Lance and his shark as it chased after a yellow mist horse that Hunk had conjured.

“I, uh…” Keith trailed off, taking a deep breath. He closed his eyes, collecting energy back in his hand. When he opened them again, his dragon was there again. It crawled up his arm, curled up on his shoulder and fell asleep. Allura had a curious look on her face, but it softened quickly, replaced with a smile.

“Dragon are said to be ruler of highlands and portrayers of the users themselves, especially fire dragons.” There was a glint in her eye as she turned away. “I’d recommend looking into your magic some more, Keith. I think there are some things that might surprise you.” She walked over to Lance’s table, leaving both Keith and Pidge there wondering what she meant.

“Ah! I see you’ve conjured something very fitting for your element as well, Lance. It seems you have a knack for this.” Keith looked over to watch Lance beaming at Allura as his shark swam around her head, catching some of her flyaway hairs as it passed. She giggled, running a finger along the underside of it before it swam back over to Lance.

It settled in his hand, circling around his wrist. “I used to conjure things for my siblings back home,” he said, keeping his gaze on the shark. “We’d always be down at the beach, so they’d ask me to make fish and sharks for them.” His shark wove its way up his arm, butting its head against his shoulder. “They’re a part of who I am.” His voice was soft, different from how he’d been speaking earlier. Keith twitched, feeling something tug at his heart.

Allura smiled at Lance and nodded, then moved over to talk to Hunk. “This is superb Hunk, fantastic job,” she praised. He blushed, scratching the back of his head. “You seem to have a knack for this too,” Allura added, looking between Hunk and Lance, nodding her head a little. “Let me guess, big family?” Hunk smiled sheepishly, horse prancing around in front of him. She nodded again, moving on to the next table.

After she made her way around the room, Allura walked back to her desk and sat on top of it. “So, normally in this class we focus solely on the ability to conjure an object through our magick. But seeing as all of you have successfully done that on the first day, this year we’ll also work on seeing if you can use another type of magick to conjure as well.”

Keith perked up at this. “For now we’ll focus on just your primary element, working on conjuring various things. When I find that you all have a sufficient grasp on this, we’ll start working on a secondary magic.” She looked around the room, catching Keith’s eye as she did. “Some of you will find it easier to find a second element to use. Some of you won’t. It’ll take trial and error to find the element that is compatible with your magick.”

There was whispering as students turned to each other, discussing what other element they wanted to be able to use. Keith was quiet, crossing his arms. He already knew what he wanted, what he could do. He looked over at the clock, seeing the arms moving quickly, and looked at Allura. She winked before standing. “Alright, class dismissed.” Everyone stood, ready to leave. “Keith, I’d like to speak with you before you leave.”

He flushed, feeling everyone’s eyes on him. “Looks like Fire Boy is in trouble,” Lance said. Keith glared at him, and Lance smirked, turning and following after Hunk. Pidge told him they’d wait for him outside, and he nodded. He grabbed his stuff, making sure not to disturb his sleeping dragon, and walked over to Allura. She smiled at him, her hands gripping the front of the table.

“Before you say anything, you’re not in trouble. I wanted to talk to you about your magick,” Allura said.  Keith sighed, biting his lip. This happened in every class he was in—teachers wanted to tell him that his magick was dangerous, that he needed to be able to control it, this, that, and the other. He’d heard it a million times in a million different ways.

“I know, I know, dangerous magick, have to be able to control. I’ve heard this all before.” He could hear the impatience in his voice, could feel the way his jaw clenched in irritation. He took a breath, waiting for her to tell him that he was right. But she didn’t. She smiled at him, and it made him suspicious.

“That’s not what I was going to say Keith.” Her voice was gentle, patient. She spun her hand, a light dragon forming. It flew over, resting on the same shoulder his dragon was sleeping on. “Dragons are special, the type of magick used to form them reflecting that. A light dragon helps those seeking the truth.” Keith heard a rumble and turned his head, seeing his wake up and blink up at Allura’s. “Your dragon, a fire dragon, is a symbol of passion and courage.”

Both dragons took off from his shoulder, flying higher and higher around the empty room until they settled on a shelf. “I know you’ve been scared to use your magick, Shiro’s told me.” He looked at her, and she rose her hands in defense. “He didn’t tell me why and I’m not here to pry. But I want you to know that here, in my class, you don’t need to be afraid to use it.”

Keith looked back at their dragons. His had started creating smoke rings, which Allura’s was flying through. Hers flew through one, two, three rings before it disappeared into the band of light coming from the window. His dragon cocked its head to the side in confusion before flying back to him, looking a little forlorn. Allura smiled at it, reaching out to pet its head. It nuzzled into her hand.

“I know you have a connection to more than just fire magick. I could sense it when you walked in. I have a feeling I know what the other element is, and I think I know why you’ve been hesitant to use your own.” Keith looked at her, and she smiled at him. “You don’t need to be scared anymore. It’s your magick. Embrace it.” Keith opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Allura shaking her head.

“You should get going, I think Pidge is starting to get impatient.” Keith looked to the door, seeing Pidge pacing back and forth, trying their hardest to not look inside. He chuckled, shouldering his bag. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow,” Allura said. Keith nodded and walked out the door.

“Finally. You’re lucky we have a free period, or else we’d be in so much trouble for being late.” Keith reached out and ruffled Pidge’s hair, and they made an irritated noise as they pulled away, smoothing it back down. “Could you not do that? I’d rather not look like a thistle bush.”

“You and your plant obsession.” Keith chuckled again, and Pidge sent him a scowl that quickly devolved into a smile. They walked down the stairs, heading to the front lawn. From there, they had planned on heading back to the dorms and hanging out there. But when they got outside, they saw Lance and Hunk, and Pidge steered them over.

“Hey! Hunk!” Pidge called. Hunk jumped a little, turning to face them. Lance peered around his shoulder at them, and Keith could see Lance’s eyes going to his dragon. It was still peacefully curled up on Keith’s shoulder, the warmth comforting, and he felt it stir a little at Pidge’s shout. It puffed out a smoke ring before curling in on itself again.

“Hey, Pidge, right? And you’re Keith?” They both nodded, and Hunk scratched the back of his head. “Just want to make sure I got your names right. I’m surprised you remembered mine. I’m not a very memorable guy.” Lance’s jaw dropped and he swung an arm around his shoulder.

“You’re kidding, right? You’re the most memorable guy ever! I mean, who else has earth magick?” Lance said, sending Hunk a wide, cheesy grin. Hunk’s face flushed and he scratched the back of his head, again. Keith guessed it was an embarrassed habit he had.

“Lance, you’ve met my entire family. We all have earth magick, it really isn’t that special,” Hunk said. Keith quirked an eyebrow at him. He’d give anything to have a magick that people considered normal. He wondered what it must be like to live in family where everyone had the same magick. It must’ve made learning how to handle it easier.

“And you’ve met my entire family. My magick isn’t anything special either. But you, my friend, are memorable.” Lance poked Hunk’s arm, and Hunk pretended to rub his arm in pain. Lance beamed, turning his attention to Keith. “I see the dragon has made another appearance. Are you going to name it?”

Keith turned, scooping the dragon up into his hand. It yawned, looking up at him with those sapphire eyes. Its tail curled around his wrist and it stretched his wings. “I hadn’t thought about it. It’s the first time I’ve ever conjured something.” His voice was soft, and a fond smile crept onto his face. He remembered his mom creating light grey dragons, much daintier than his, when he was younger. A pang of guilt and sadness hit his heart and he shut away those memories.

“What about Yorak? You always said your parents had wanted to name you that,” Pidge said nonchalantly. He heard Lance start laughing and he shot them a glare. They shrugged their shoulders, crossing their arms over their chest.

“You’re parents wanted to name you Yorak? What kind of name is that?” Lance doubled over in laughter, and Keith felt his face start to heat up. Lance looked back at him, and his eyes widened a little. “Hey, uh, you’re smoking right now.” Keith quirked an eyebrow and he looked at his hand. Sure enough flames had formed in his hand. Uncontrolled, they’d started to char the sleeve of his jacket. He clenched his fist, muttering a sorry, and hid his hand behind his back.

Pidge looked at him worriedly. They knew how his magick worked, they’d been around him long enough to know. They were the one who got through to him back when the accident happened. They placed a hand on his arm, and he looked at them, forcing a smile. Pidge turned to Lance and Hunk. “We gotta go, we’ve got something to do. We’ll meet up some time, yeah?” They nodded, eyebrows quirked a little, and Keith and PIdge walked around them, heading to the dorm.

When they were out of earshot of the other two, Pidge turned to Keith. “I’m sorry Keith, I didn’t mean to bring that up, I swear.” Keith took a deep breath, feeling the energy dissipating, and he looked at his sleeve. The edge closest to his hand was burned, a thin strip of black running along it. Discoloration continued up a little from there. He scrunched his nose, sighing.

“It’s not your fault. I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening.” He didn’t tell them that it wasn’t the memory that made his magick flare up. Didn’t tell them that it was the boy with a laugh like bells in the breeze that made his heart race and made his mind go blank. Didn’t tell them that the boy with the caramel skin and ocean blue eyes that had caused him to forget about his magick, to lose control for those few seconds. He didn’t tell them that it was the boy with water magick that had sparked something in his chest, something he was starting to recognize, and was scared to acknowledge.

\---

Somehow during the first month of school, they’d formed this little group—Keith, Pidge, Hunk, and Lance. Keith liked to think it was because Pidge and Hunk were paired up for Shiro’s class and that being associated with them made him and Lance friends. But deep down he knew it was because he genuinely liked having them as friends. Hunk, as it turned out, was an amazing chef. The first time they’d all met up to study for Allura’s class, he’d made these cupcakes that Keith swore were as good as any professional baker’s desserts.

Today, he’d brought cookies to their study session. “They’re a special recipe from my mom,” Hunk said, placing the tub on the table between Keith and Pidge. They looked at each other before practically leaping for them. Pidge took a small mountain of cookies, receding back to their little study bubble while Keith took a more moderate four cookies. He picked one up, about to bite it, when it disappeared from in front of him.

He looked up, seeing Lance smirking at him as he took a bite of the stolen cookie. “God, Hunk, how are you so good at baking?” Lance said, catching falling crumbs. Hunk shook his head, handing another cookie to Keith, who shielded them as the other two sat down. Lance reached for another from Keith’s stack and Keith smacked his hand away. He feigned hurt, holding his hand against his chest.

“You pick up a few things when you live with my family,” Hunk said with a wink. Keith took a bite of one of the cookies, closing his eyes and humming happily, not even caring about how embarrassing it was. Chocolate melted in his mouth, mixing with the right amount of peanut butter. They were soft and gooey, broke apart easily while still holding that bit of firmness of a perfectly made cookie. They were amazing.

“It has to be magick,” Keith said, opening his eyes to look at Hunk. Hunk winked, turning his attention to the books he was pulling out of his bag. Keith laughed before finishing his first cookie and starting on another. He saw Lance try to steal another one from the corner of his eye, and he lifted his hands high above his head and off to the side. Lance whined, reaching across him to try to get them, but ended up falling into Keith’s lap.

Keith’s face flushed, heat rising, and he looked down at Lance in slight horror. Lance, however, didn’t seem to notice, as he still made grabby hands at the cookies that were well out of reach. “Lance, get off of him. Just take some from the tub,” Hunk said, sliding it over to him. Lance huffed and sat up, and Keith let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. A quick glance up to his hands told him that that anxiousness hadn’t made it his hands, and he sagged his shoulders in relief.

Unfortunately, that sag meant the cookies were lowered, and it was a split second before he went crashing to the floor, Lance lying across him. “Ha! Got them!” Lance all but shouted. Keith’s vision was covered partly by his hair, but he could see the triumphant smile he had. He shoved him off, moving back a little, and pulling his legs up under him. Lance yelped, falling onto his back. He shot Keith a glare, and Keith shot him a look back. “What the hell Kogane?” 

Keith quirked an eyebrow at Lance, and he scowled back at Keith. With a huff, he stood, promptly sitting in the chair that Keith had fallen out of. Keith frowned, hooking a foot around the leg of the chair. He yanked it, the chair wobbling, and Lance squealed, grabbing onto the table.

Both Pidge and Hunk started laughing, and Keith couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. Lance turned and shot him a glare, his hand flicking towards him. Keith had a second to register the motion before water was flying towards his face. He closed his eyes as it hit him, a shiver running through his body at the feeling of cold water falling down his neck and soaking his shirt. He shook his head, wet strands of hair whipping his face. He shot Lance an angry glare, and saw a smug look.

“You sure you want to do this?” Keith asked, raising a hand and heating it to dry himself. He kept his eyes on Lance, and watched as his expression changed from smug to slight terror. Keith turned away, scowling in mock annoyance, but something about the look tugged at him. He tied his hair up and stood, taking the chair next to Lance. He reached a hand towards him, but Lance shied away, putting distance between them as he turned and pulled his stuff out of his bag. He put on his headphones, refusing to look at Keith, a nervous look on his face.

Keith tried not to let that hurt him and pulled his hand back. He saw Hunk give him a sympathetic look before poking at Lance’s arm. Lance looked up and Hunk pushed the cookies to him, a slightly stern look on his face. Lance narrowed his eyes a little, but the longer he looked at Hunk, the more he seemed to give in. He sighed, taking a few of them before going back to his book. Hunk looked at him for a few more seconds before turning his attention to Keith.

“Don’t worry about it, he’s not upset at you.” He pushed the tub of cookies to Keith, and he took a few, his movements deliberate. Hunk gave him another smile. “Just give him some time and he’ll be back to his normal self.” Keith glanced over to Lance, who was bobbing his head and mouthing the words to whatever song he was listening to while he took notes, and he nodded.

It was quiet for a while - no one really wanted to break the silence they had. Didn’t want to disturb the others. Lance took off his headphones, settling them around his neck. He’d occasionally flick cookies crumbs at Keith, who would retaliate by throwing wads of paper at him. They got maybe an hour into their studying before someone finally spoke.

“Do you think we should practice for Shiro’s class?” Pidge said, glancing up from their notebook briefly before scribbling something down. Keith looked at them, looked at the others, his eyes settling on Lance. Hunk seemed interested in the idea, and Keith was too. They’d been studying conjuring for an hour so it seemed like a good change of pace.

Lance, however, seemed less than thrilled to practice. Part of Keith bristled at his reaction to the idea. It’d been a month since their first class, and they had yet to get together to start practicing. Lance was always saying he was busy, and it was starting to get annoying. Another part of him was sad. The part of him that had started to grow fond of him. He wanted to know why - why his fire magick was a nuisance to him, why he seemed to avoid him anytime he suggested practicing.

“Keith?” He blinked, looking over to Pidge. They had a paper ball in their hand, aimed at him as though ready to throw it. “Are you good with practicing?” Keith glanced over at Lance, seeing he was pointedly avoiding looking at any of them, and sighed. He looked back to Pidge and nodded. Pidge smiled, closing their textbook with a definitive slam and stood, almost knocking the chair over. “Cool, though maybe not here. I don’t think the librarian would be too thrilled to have us practicing.”

Their tone suggested that they were talking to all of them. But the quick glance at him told him that their were talking to him specifically. Keith tensed a little at that, knowing they were right, but getting defensive all the same. Years of being told where he could and couldn’t use his magick had left him irritated by the slightest hint of any consequence to him using it. It was his magick, he shouldn’t have to be restricted. At least, that’s what Pidge and Shiro had always told him.

He packed his stuff up, getting up to follow Pidge, when he saw Lance still sitting there, staring at his book. He seemed distracted, if the tenseness of his shoulders and the conflicted look he had was anything to go by. Keith placed a hand on his shoulder, just light enough for him to know it was there without it feeling like he was trying to impede on his space. Lance jumped a little, looking up at him. He furrowed his brows, putting a little more weight into his hold.

“You gonna come with us?” He tried to keep his voice inviting, light, hoping that he could keep the desperation out of his it. He saw Lance fighting with himself, and he pulled his hand away, biting his lip. Lance turned and looked at where his hand had been, and that seemed to make up his mind. He nodded, closing his book softly and slipping it into his bag alongside his notebook. He looked back at Keith with a smile, shouldering his bag.

“So Mullet really does care.” Lance smirked at him, and Keith scowled, rolling his eyes. He reached forward, stealing one of the cookies that Lance still had, and winked as he took a bite. Lance sputtered, looking between his cookies and Keith, and Keith turned, walking to catch up to Pidge. “Kogane, you’ll pay for that!” Keith smiled to himself, biting into the cookie, waving the rest at Lance with a smirk.

They ended up going to the wide grass lawn outside the dorms. It was early enough that there weren’t a lot of students there. Keith saw a few from their classes: James and Rizavi were lounging under one of the trees while Leifsdottir and Kinkade were throwing around a frisbee. Leifsdottir seemed to be tracking the frisbee with the blades of grass it flew over - the blades moved under the shadow of the frisbee. He glanced over to see Pidge watching her, and he knew they were studying the way Leifsdottir used their magick.

“Come on, you can study Leifsdottir later,” Keith said, slinging an arm around their shoulder and dragging them towards one of the trees further from them. Pidge tried to turn to look back, but Keith pulled them around so that he had both hands on their shoulders and was pushing them.

Pidge grumbled. “If you were a good friend, you’d let me go and watch.” Keith chuckled, ruffling their hair as they walk. “Keith, I swear to god.” He removed his hand from Pidge’s hair, knowing an angry Pidge wasn’t something he wanted to mess with. He saw them turn back around to look at Leifsdottir before turning back around, sighing.

Hunk and Lance joined them a minute later and they all dropped their bags against the tree. Keith could see moss moving towards his bag and he lit a small flame in his hand, placing it near the moss. It quickly retreated, and he rolled his eyes at the glare that Pidge shot him. “It was your idea to practice,” Keith said, flicking the flame out and stretching a little. He shivered as the slight breeze hit the skin that was exposed on his stomach, and he tugged his shirt down. He saw Lance looking at him, but when he turned his head, Lance did as well, busying himself with grabbing his bottle.

“Yeah, and since it was, you get to sit your pretty little ass down and watch Hunk and I practice,” Pidge said, walking away from the tree. Keith quirked an eyebrow but sat down, leaning his back against his bag. Hunk followed after them, and Lance sat next to him. It wasn’t too long before Keith grew bored of watching them. It wasn’t that they were boring, because the sense they had for each other’s magick was pretty amazing. It was that they did things that weren’t very visible on the outside.

Keith looked up at the branches above him, watching as the leaves shifted in the wind. How natural it was, how fluid their motion was. It reminded him of how unnatural his magick was, how uncontrollable it could be. He thought about how Lance’s water magick was natural, fluid, reminiscent of the way leaves moved. How completely different it was from him.

He took a breath, closing his eyes. He’d felt that tingle of energy coursing through him, and right now was not the time to lose control. Instead, he took that energy and focused it into his hand, feeling warmth pooling there. His dragon was waiting for him when he opened his eyes. It blinked up at him, yawning a little, smoke rings coming out of his nose. Keith smiled down at it, rubbing its head with his finger. It nuzzled into the gesture, blowing more smoke rings at him.

“Looks like Yorak has made another appearance,” Lance said, leaning over to look at him. Keith was very much aware of how close he was—shoulders almost touching, the fabric of Lance’s shirt brushing against his arm. Keith focused his nervous energy on his dragon, using it to channel his nerves. He felt Lance shift, glancing up to find his eyes on the dragon.

“I’m not naming it Yorak,” Keith said. The dragon turned its attention to Lance and started to climb up Keith’s arm. It made his way around his shoulders, its tail brushing along his neck, then down his other arm, perching itself in his right hand. It looked up at Lance, blowing smoke rings up at him. Keith glanced up at Lance, watching him eye the dragon warily. He seemed hesitant, cautious, the same way he was whenever Keith used his magick. “He won’t hurt you,” Keith said softly.

Lance glanced at him, eyebrows furrowed, and he leaned away. Keith felt a pang of disappointment go through him, and his dragon seemed to feel the same. It walked to the edge of Keith’s hand, seeming to be torn between staying in the familiar and flying over to Lance. It looked up at Keith, head tilted to the side. Keith quirked an eyebrow at it, and it huffed, curling itself up in his hand. Keith pet the top of its head until it fell asleep, and then slowly dissipated it, flames dispersing in his hand as the dragon disappeared.

They sat in silence for a few minutes—Keith watching Pidge and Hunk, Lance with his eyes closed, head leaned back against the tree—before it was their turn to practice. Keith stood, nudging Lance with his foot. He jumped, looking up at him, a scowl on his face. Keith smiled a little, turning his back on Lance as he walked to where Pidge and Hunk were. Keith caught the tail end of their conversation before Pidge turned towards him.

“You ready to go some magick flame boy?” Pidge said. Keith scowled at them. Pidge smiled innocently at him, knowing he hated that nickname. Hunk looked between them, confusion written on his face, and Pidge started to say something, but Keith smacked a hand over their mouth. He ignored the feeling of them licking his hand, instead choosing to glare. Pidge sighed, slouching in defeat, and, after a few more seconds of covering their mouth, he moved his hand, wiping it on his jeans.

“You are seriously so childish,” Keith grumbled. Pidge shot him a look, sticking their tongue out at him. Keith narrowed his eyes at them, thinking of all the ways he could embarrass them, when he felt Lance’s hand on his shoulder. He turned, saw Lance smile, and his stomach did a flip. He felt heat starting to creep into his face, so he turned his attention back to Pidge. “You gonna move or am I gonna have to punt you?”

Pidge glared at him, giving him the finger, before following Hunk, who had already started to make his way to the tree. Keith walked out of Lance’s hold and stretched his arms over his head. He popped his neck, reveling in the release of tension before turning to look at Lance, who was staring at him. Keith couldn’t read the look he had, but it didn’t seem to be scared, which was a relief to him. Instead, it seemed torn between emotions he couldn’t place. Lance caught his eye and blinked, and flashed him a smile. Keith quirked an eyebrow at him, but dropped his curiosity .

“So, do you have any ideas of what we can do?” Lance asked, hands fidgeting in front of him. Keith hummed, bobbing his head from side to side. With all the time he’d spent trying to get Lance to practice, he had yet to figure out something that would work with their magicks. He pursed his lips, breathing a sigh through his nose. “I’m going to take that as a no.”

Keith shot him a look, remembering the first day they tried this. The image of ice forming around his feet came to mind, and an idea formed. “You’re able to freeze the water right? Like you did that first day?” Lance gave him a questioning look, but nodded. “Okay, so what if we try to trap a flame in the ice?” Lance opened his mouth to say something, but closed it, perking up.

“That’s actually not a bad idea. Way to go Mullet.” Keith scowled at the name, but took pride in the idea. “How are we going to do this? There’s no way I’ll be able to encase the fire without putting it out, and the ice will melt from the heat.” Keith thought for a second, trying to figure out how it would work. Lance pulled him from his thoughts with an exclamation, “Oh! What if we try something like you did when you tried to get the fire to curl around the water? What if we do that, but with the water on the outside this time?”

Keith’s eyes widened a little, starting to smile. “I’ve never tried something like that, but if we can get the flame to stay lit with the water around it, it just might work.” He walked closer to Lance, bringing his hand up between them. A small orange flame grew in his hand, flaring red and yellow. It was small, about the size of his palm, but the longer it was there, the larger it grew. He kept it from growing too large, very much aware of the way Lance was watching it and of the hesitation in his body language.

He used his other hand to push the flame to his fingertips, letting it balance there, and looked at Lance. “Alright, it’s your turn.” Lance took a breath and collected water between his hands, creating a sphere. He brought it close to Keith’s hands, and Keith could see steam starting to form. White wisps coming off the water, a hissing sound from where the flames met the water.

He willed some of the energy to leave the flame, watching it grow smaller. The water stopped evaporating, and Lance split the sphere in two, half on either side of Keith’s hands. It chilled his skin where it touched, a stark difference from the heat of the flame.

The water slowly encased his hand, the flame starting the sputter. He saw Lance make a motion with one of his hands, and the flame stopped flickering, growing back to the strength it had been at. “I hope this works,” Keith whispered to himself. He closed his eyes, focusing on the flame while he pulled his hand away. When he opened them, he saw it dancing within the water sphere. A smile formed on his face, and he let out a cheer.

Lance laughed, keeping his focus on the water. “Better watch your fire, Kogane. I’m not liable for it going out before we get anywhere.” Keith stuck his tongue out at Lance but turned his attention back to the flame. He watched the water slowly start to freeze, frosting over from the heat on the inside. Excitement coursed through Keith’s body at the thought that he’d finally gotten something to work with his magick.The excitement he felt filled the fire, and it flared, cracking the ice and causing the water to boil. 

“Keith! Get control of it!” Lance said, fear filling his voice as he tried to get the water to calm down. Keith’s mind shut down, going into defensive mode at hearing the all too familiar comment, and the fire flared, breaking through the top of the water. “Keith!” He blinked, and the flame died almost instantly. The water was no longer, and Lance was standing a few feet away from him. Keith took a step towards him, but Lance stepped back.

“Lance, I’m—” Keith stopped, choked on his words, not sure what to say. Lance stared at him, at his hand, at where the fire had been. Keith could see him physically closing off, and then Lance turned on his heel, walking in the opposite direction. “Lance!” Keith called, starting after him. A hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked up, seeing Hunk looking after Lance.

“He’ll be okay.” The way Hunk said it seemed to be more for himself than for Keith. Keith turned back and watchedLance’s retreating figure. He felt a pang of hurt run through his chest, and felt heat building in his hand. He turned away, walking to his bag. He passed Pidge, who tried to stop him, but he ignored their calls. He pushed through the doors to the dorm building, hearing them slam against the wall of the hall, and practically ran upstairs. The only thing he could think of was the fear he saw on Lance’s face. The fear he’d caused him.

\---

Lance had gone for a walk around the grounds, ending up at the lake behind the school. The lapping of the water on the shore was a soothing sound, calming him as he watched the waves hit the sand. He sat on the beach, knees pulled up to his chest, his chin resting on top of them. He heaved a sigh, closing his eyes.   
  
He wasn’t entirely sure how long he’d been sitting there. The position of the sun was the only hint as to how long time had passed. He stood, watching it sink lower over the lake. Lance sighed, dusting the sand off his pants and began walking back to the dorms. A chill ran through him from the autumn wind nipping at his skin and he wrapped his arms around himself.   
  
He stopped by the tree where they’d made camp earlier and found his bag gone. He guessed that Hunk had picked it up for him, taking it to their dorm. The walk there was quiet. The common rooms were empty, his steps echoing off the walls of the hall. The sound bounced off the steps as he climbed them. Lance walked into his room, taking a second to collect himself before walking to his bed.   
  
He flopped across it, legs dangling over the side while his arms bent awkwardly against the wall. His shirt rode up a little and he shivered, the draft from the open window hitting his exposed skin. “Hunk,” he whined, “can you close the window?” Lance turned his head to look at Hunk, only to receive a pillow to the face. He yelped, sputtering and flailing his arms.   
  
“You do it if you want it closed,” Hunk said. Lance looked at him, narrowing his eyes a little. Hunk was in a sweater and under his blanket. His knees were drawn up towards his chest, and a book laid against them. He had a notebook between the book and his chest, and he was bent over, furiously scribbling down notes. His hair just barely covered the top of his glasses as he wrote.   
  
He looked over at Lance, and Lance groaned, flailing his arms again. Hunk shook his head, turning his attention back to his notes. Lance sighed and slid to the floor, walking over and closing the window with a flourish. “You’re in a sweater, no wonder you’re not cold.” Hunk grunted, waving his hand. Lance walked over and threw himself onto the end of Hunk’s bed. Hunk sighed, closing his books.   
  
Lance felt the bed move and Hunk shift. He turned his head, finding Hunk sitting up and looking down at him. He had an eyebrow quirked and was looking down at Lance, his hands playing with the ends of his sleeves. Lance flailed his arms, turning his head back to the look at the ceiling. “Alright, what’s up? Is this about Keith?”   
  
Lance shot up, blinking away the shadows at the edge of this vision from sitting up too fast. He sputtered, waving his arms. “What? No, why would it be about him?” Defensiveness seeped into his voice and he frowned a little. He pulled his legs up onto the bed, crossing them, and he dropped his hands into his lap. He turned his attention to them, not daring to look at Hunk.   
  
The bed shifted again, and an arm wrapped around his shoulders. “So if it’s not about Keith, then what is it?” Lance scowled, twisting his fingers around themselves. He sighed, dropping them into his lap. He bit his lip, keeping his gaze on them. Hunk shook him a little, and he groaned.   
  
“It’s just—” Lance flailed his hands a little. “—it’s hard to get close to him. He has fire magick. You know I don’t do well around fire magick.” He bit his lip again. Hunk squeezed his shoulder. He knew the story, of course he knew. He’d been the one that got Lance through it. That helped him figure things out and make things right.   
  
Having water magick wasn’t a unique magick. A lot of people where Lance grew up had it. It came with living near the ocean. Having fire magick, however, was unique. Especially in a family of water users. Lance’s oldest brother Luis had fire magick. Luis was always showing off, trying to prove that he had the superior magick.   
  
He’s always grab the back to Lance’s shirt, pretending he was going to set it on fire, just to make Lance freak out. It always worked. Lance had learned to keep a bottle of water with him whenever he was with Luis. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust him, because he did; he trusted everyone in his family. He just didn’t want to chance Luis actually doing it. Then one day, he did.   
  
They were on the beach—Luis, Lance, and Veronica. He and Luis were setting up lunch while Veronica was surfing. Lance had turned his back to grab something out of the bag when he felt a hand on the collar of his shirt. He stood, turning his head to look at Luis. “Can you not do this today?” He was annoyed, and he knew it was evident in his voice. Luis’s eyes narrowed a little, and he didn’t let go of his shirt.   
  
“What’s wrong Lance, worried I’m actually gonna hurt you?” Luis’s voice was taunting, demeaning, and it made Lance angry. He scowled at him, glaring, and Luis smirked. “Aw, the poor water boy is angry.” They were close enough to the ocean that Lance was able to shoot some water up into Luis’s face. His eyes widened, looking at Lance in shock as water dripped from his hair.   
  
Lance laughed, ducking his head. “You should see your face,” he gasped, letting out more laughter. Teras started forming in his eyes, and he took a breath, swiping at them. When he turned to look at Luis again, his laughter stopped almost immediately. He was seething, his eyes looking like they were flowing. Lance’s neck grew uncomfortably warm, and he smelt burning cloth.   
  
“Luis! Let go!” Lance reached behind and grabbed at his wrist, trying to pull it away from him, but the heat from the flames made him pull back. He felt them licking at his neck and yelped. He could smell his hair starting to singe. In his panic, Lance shot a large amount of water at them. It doused the flamed on his shirt and surprised Luis enough that he let go.   
  
Lance took a few steps back, stepping into the waves that lapped at the sand. Luis stood there, looking between his hand and Lance. He took a step towards him, and Lance took a step back. He was scared – scared of what Luis had done, scared that he might do it again. Scared that if he hadn’t done anything, he might’ve been seriously hurt. He took off down the beach, back towards their house.   
  
Luis and Veronica came home not long after, and Luis called out his name. Lance stayed in his room, sitting against the door. Luis came up, knocking and asking him to come out, trying to apologize. Lance stayed silent, staring at the burned part of his shirt. Luis gave up after a while, and Veronica took his place. He didn’t answer her. It wasn’t until his mom came up that he answered.   
  
She didn’t pressure him into going downstairs, didn’t pressure him into talking to Luis. She brought him food, offering to sit with him while he ate. Lance shook his head, telling her he would be okay. He didn’t leave his room until Luis went away for school again. Veronica tried to get him to talk, but he ignored her, deflecting the conversations to something else. Anytime Luis would be around, he’d always shy away from him. Not because of Luis, but because of his fire magick.   
  
Lance shook his head, clearing his mind of the memory, clenching his fists. “I don’t know how Shiro expects us to be able to work together. I know he doesn’t know about the whole fire magick thing. But even I can see that we can’t work together. Not magickally.” His voice softened, and Hunk squeezed his shoulder. They were quiet for a few minutes, neither really sure what to say, and it was Hunk who broke the silence.   
  
“Are you sure that’s the only thing?” It was a probing question, an open ended one. Lance turned to look at him, confused. Hunk quirked the side of his mouth a little, pulling his arm away. He leaned back on his hands, looking up at the ceiling. “I remember when I first met Shay, I didn’t really know if we’d ever be able to be together. She has earth magick, yeah, but it seemed to work more with gems than the earth.”   
  
Lance shifted so he was facing Hunk, watching as he bobbed his head from side to side. He didn’t really know where he was going with this story – he’d already told Lance about it. “I thought about how even though our magicks were the same, they were also so different. I told myself we’d never be able to be together. But you know what? We are. We found a way to make our magick work together.” He turned to Lance with a knowing smile, and Lance furrowed his brows.   
  
“Okay, while that is a cute story, and while you have told it to me before, I don’t really know where you’re going with it.” Confusion was clear in his voice. Hunk turned his head to look back at the ceiling and hummed, bobbing his head again. Lance watched him, waiting for him to explain what he meant.   
  
“I think you need to see things from a different perspective.” Lance opened his mouth to say something but Hunk beat him to it. “You two have grown close, much quicker than you did with Pidge, and certainly much quick than you have with me.” Hunk sat up quickly, turning his entire body towards Lance. Lance jumped a little at the sudden movement, but watched him, quirking an eyebrow.   
  
“You two bicker, a lot, and trust me, it can get annoying.” Lance let out an indignant noise and Hunk shook his head with a smile. “You two bicker, yes, but you also seem to get each other out of your heads. Give each other the confidence to do things you probably wouldn’t otherwise do.” Hunk looked at Lance–full on leaned forward and looked at him–and Lance tried to look away. But the look in Hunk’s eye kept him from looking anywhere else. “I think maybe the fire magick isn’t the only thing bothering you.”   
  
Lance leaned away, scoffing a little, his cheeks reddened. “The only other thing that could possibly bother me is that stupid mullet he has. Like, hello, the mullet is out of fashion. I’d like to take a pair of scissors to that mop of hair, cut it down to a fashionable style. Maybe give it some TLC, cause there’s no way it’s as soft as it looks.” 

He froze for a second, not daring to look at Hunk, feeling his face go entirely red. “I didn’t mean it like that! I mean, yeah, it looks soft, but who wouldn’t want to run their fingers through it? Play with it? Braid it?” His voice softened, taking on a fondness that he didn’t know he had. “Anyone would want to,” he mumbled. 

Hunk nudged him with his toe and Lance swatted at the toe, earning a laugh. Lance sighed, flopping back and staring at the ceiling. “Stupid Keith and his stupid hair and his stupid adorable laugh and his stupid pretty eyes,” he said, voice muffled from the hands covering his face. He made an irritated noise, rubbing at his cheeks. “Hunk, I think I’ve fallen for the stupid flame head.”   
  
‘You have. And I think it’s time you do something about it,” Hunk chuckled, tossing a pillow at him. Lance swatted it away and looked up at him. Hunk was smiling, and Lance shook his head. He couldn’t help the smile that started forming though. He sat up, throwing the pillow back at Hunk, who dodged it and laughed. 

\---

Sunday morning meant endless pancakes and waffles in the mess hall. Sunday morning meant binge watching Netflix and homework procrastination. Sunday morning meant Keith got to sleep in and not worry about Iife. Yet this Sunday, he was up before the sun, sitting outside in one of the trees, watching the sky lighten.

His dragon was perched on his knee, curled around itself. It was looking up at him with those sapphire eyes. Sapphire eyes that made it hard not to think of Lance. Ocean eyes that seemed to shine every time they were turned towards him. Ocean eyes that changed colours based on his mood. Ocean eyes that Keith swore he could drown in.

He sighed, leaning his head against the trunk and looking up into the foliage above him. “Why is he always on my mind?” Keith whispered to himself. He knew why, it was pretty obvious. The way his heart raced and the way his hands twitched with the need to touch him were dead giveaways. He sighed again. “He’s going to be the death of me.”

“Who’s going to be the death of you?” Keith jumped, jerking his head to the side. Pidge was perched on a branch next to him, legs swinging where they dangled. Their head was tilted to the side a little. “Why are you even out here this early? It’s a Sunday.” 

Keith chuckled a little, settling back against the tree. “Kosmo wanted to see the sunrise.” Pidge gave him a confused look and he chuckled again. His dragon perked up at it’s name, blowing a smoke ring up at him. Keith smiled, running a finger along it’s back. It blew another smoke ring at him, flapping its wings happily.

Pidge made a noise of acknowledgement. “Ah, right. Decided against Yorak?” Keith nodded. Yorak was special to him, a remnant of his mom. It reminded him of his childhood, before everything happened. He wanted to keep it that way.

“Yeah, besides, it seems to like this name better.” Kosmo stood, flying up to sit on Pidge’s knee. They smiled down at it, watching it sniff around their knee. It perked its head up, looking at them, and they smiled. Pidge closed their eyes, and Keith saw green mist forming in their hand. A small bird formed, flapping its wings and hopping down from their hands to their knee.

It made its way over to where Kosmo sat, tilting its head as it stared at the dragon. Kosmo blew a smoke ring at Pidge’s bird, and it flapped its wings angrily. “Rover, play nice,” Pidge scolded. Rover looked up at them and Pidge quirked an eyebrow. It flapped its wings again and turned back to Kosmo, taking a few hesitant steps closer.

“Rover? Interesting name for a bird.” Pidge looked at Keith, smiling slightly. They nodded, the glint of the rising sun making it impossible to see their eyes. But he knew they were sparkling. He could tell in the way their smile was just a bit brighter, in the way the leaves around them waved back and forth, reacting to Pidge’s happiness.

He turned to watch the sunrise, watching the sky explode into colour—pinks and purples and oranges streaking across early morning grey. Clouds darkening where the light had yet to reach. It reminded him of flames, how they sparked to life, danced in the wind, bringing colour to his greyscale world. Pidge poked his shoulder, giving him a questioning look.

“You said earlier that someone would be the death of you. Who were you talking about?” Keith frowned a little, looking back out at the sky. He brought his knees up and leaned his crossed arms on them. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to tell them. Tell them about the wind chime laugh that made his heart flutter. Tell them about the chestnut hair that fell just right to make him want to run his hands through it. Tell them about the the bright smile that always seemed to make the room brighter.

He could feel his magick getting antsy, could feel his hands starting to fidget, and grabbed his arms a little tighter, hoping to make it go away. It didn’t help much. Pidge had known him for years and could always tell when something was on his mind, when he was hiding something. This time was no different. “Keith?” Their voice was soft, probing but not invasive; an invitation.

Keith buried his face in the space between his arms and his chest, sighing. “I was talking about Lance,” he mumbled, not quite sure if Pidge heard him or not. The part of him that felt relieved to have finally said it out loud hoped they had. His magick sparked, the silence making his anxiety build. He peered up at Pidge and saw them looking out at the sky.

“I honestly suspected something was going on between you two. But I didn’t think you’d ever actually admit it.” Their voice was still soft, but it had lost that probing tone. Their legs swung a little, Kosmo and Rover moving to perch on their shoulders, one of either side. Rover was nuzzled up close to their neck, head swaying side to side. Kosmo was antsy, kept pacing back and forth, unable to sit still. The dragon mirrored Keith’s own emotions.

Pidge turned to look at him, a fond smile on their face. “I’m proud of you. For being able to tell me. For being able to accept it.” Keith felt his anxiety calming, the excess energy slowly leaving him. “I’m proud of you,” Pidge said again, nudging him a little. Keith turned his gaze back to the sky, slouching back against the tree. Kosmo flew over to him and perched on his arm. It blew a smoke ring up at him and he smiled, cradling Kosmo in his hand.

“Thanks Pidge.” His voice was small, but there was relief in it. He felt like he could breathe a little easier, could move a little more freely. A thought crossed his mind and he frowned again. “It doesn’t matter how I feel about him. He doesn’t feel the same. He can’t even stand to work with me.” His voice had dropped to a mutter. He dissipated Kosmo, watching the flames lick at his hand as they fizzled out.

Pidge jumped to the ground, the sudden movement startling him. They turned to look up at him, hands on their hips. “Alright. This is a conversation to be had over waffles, not up in a tree. Get your lanky ass down here so we can go eat and figure out this situation.” Keith scowled, but he didn’t have much of a choice. The leaves were already starting to move towards him and he knew Pidge would throw him out of the tree if they needed to.

He jumped down, stumbling a few steps after he landed. Pidge snickered next to him, and wrapping an arm around their shoulders, pulling them in and messing up their hair. They shoved at him, escaping his grasp and fixing the headband they had keeping their hair up. Keith laughed, putting his own hair up. “Thanks Pidge. For being supportive. It really means a lot.”

Pidge looked at him, a smile forming. “Of course. Can’t let my fellow cryptid hunter suffer through his feelings.” Keith rolled his eyes, already walking towards the mess hall. Pidge cackled as they followed.

“Please don’t ever call me a cryptid hunter again. That’s such a horrible name.” He couldn’t help the smile he had, nor could he help the laughter that escaped him as he said it. “I refuse to ever go by that name.”

Pidge smirked at him, nudging his arm. “You say that now, but just you wait, Kogane, you’ll come around.” Keith shook his head, his smile spreading. The world seemed to be a little brighter, reminiscent of the sunrise sky. That spark of hope of returned feelings from Lance. That reassurance of having Pidge there for him through it all. It grew the flame that coloured his world.

\---

A week had gone by since Keith had told Pidge about his feelings for Lance. They’d told him that even if Lance didn’t feel the same, Keith would never know unless he told him. They’d come up with a plan for the confession, and as evening approached, Keith’s nerves were starting to act up again. He took a deep breath, focusing on the air that he blew out.

“You’ve got this Keith, what’s the worst that could happen?” he asked himself. He frowned. “Okay, don’t think about that. Just focus on the plan.” Keith ran a hand through his hair before pulling it into a low ponytail. He took a quick glance in the mirror—maroon sweater pulled over a white dress shirt, his nice black jeans without the ripped knees, and black converse.

He tugged at the edge of his sweater, feeling suddenly self-conscious. “This is stupid, what am I doing?” He frowned at his reflection, tugging his hair out of the ponytail. He stared down at the hair tie for a second, a battle between putting his hair up and leaving it down raging in his head. Keith sighed, pocketing it. “Better to have it and not use it.”

Keith grabbed everything he needed—keys, wallet, a special bouquet of flowers—and sent Pidge a quick text telling them that he was on his way to meet Lance. They sent him a thumbs up emoji and he smiled, shaking his head. Pidge and their emojis. He walked outside, seeing the late evening sky. The sun had already set: the sky, with a few brave stars sprinkled throughout, bled red and oranges near the horizon, deep blue overtaking the rest.

A cool breeze blew ruffled his hair. He brushed his hair out of his face, contemplating, again,  whether it would be worth it to put it up. Keith remembered Lance making an offhand comment a few weeks ago about how he liked Keith’s hair up. His hand twitched, inching towards his pocket. Keith resisted the urge, shoving it into his back pocket instead. “The wind isn’t that bad,” he said.

It wasn’t long before he was at the library—he’d taken the shorter path there, knowing that the longer he walked the more likely he was to turn back and hide in his dorm. Lamps lit up the sitting area outside the library, glowing a soft yellow as the sky continued to darken. He walked to an empty table and sat on top of it.

Keith looked at his lap. He’d brought flowers that he and Pidge had conjured after they had found a spell that allowed them to stay permanent. Flames danced in the breeze from the fire flowers Keith had made: five upside down teardrop shaped petals in a gradient of orange to red sprouting from a deep blue center, the same deep blue extending down to form the stem. The colours reflected off the water flowers that Pidge had made: round, oblong petals sprouting from the stem itself, these ones in a gradient of ocean blues, blues that reminded Keith of Lance’s eyes. The stem for these were a sea foam green colour.

He smiled down at them, at the way they shone in the darkening light, magick mist coming off of them. Keith had Pidge test the fire flowers, making sure that any heat that came off of them was just barely there. It’d taken a few tries before he’d gotten it right, figuring out how to control the heat so not only would it not hurt anyone who touched them, but also so that the water flowers wouldn’t evaporate.

Keith heard the scuff of shoes on pavement and he looked up, hiding the flowers behind his back. Lance was walking towards him, hands in his pockets. He had on a dark blue button down shirt, black jeans, and dark blue converse that matched his shirt. He perked up a little when he saw Keith, and Keith gave him a small wave, aware of the way his heartbeat picked up. Lance stopped in front of him, turning his head to look to the side.

“So, you wanted to meet up? What for, Mr. Secretive?” Lance said, chuckling. He turned to look back at Keith, and Keith breathed a small laugh, relax back a little. Lance quirked an eyebrow, his mouth drawn up into a smirk, and Keith was hit with the thought of wanting to kiss him. He bit his lip, turning his gaze back to those ocean eyes.

“Yeah, there’s something I wanted to tell you,” he said, his voice sounding constricted at the end. He cleared his throat, letting go of the flowers and bringing his hands into his lap. He sat up, feeling his heart start to race. His hands started to shake from the anxiety. Lance’s eyes seemed to shift, darkening a little, looking more guarded.

“I actually have something I want to tell you too,” Lance said, his voice soft. He turned away from Keith, arms crossed, stance stiffening. Keith furrowed his brows, looking at him. He didn’t like this guarded version of Lance. It was too off from his normal laid back, smiling demeanor. It made him want to lean towards Lance, do anything he could to make him smile.

Both boys were quiet, not wanting to break the silence. Keith bit his lip again, his heart racing. He could feel sparks starting to pop off his fingers and he intertwined them, squeezing his hands together until the knuckles were white. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he spoke.

“I—” Keith was cut off as Lance spoke as well. They looked at each other, a soft smile gracing Lance’s features. Keith let out a small laugh, clearing his throat. “Ah, you go first,” he said. Lance nodded, shifting his stance to put his weight on his left leg. Keith mentally berated himself for not offering Lance a seat, but didn’t get much time to think about it.

“I wanted to tell you that I don’t hate you, that I’m not scared of you.” Keith’s brows furrowed again. “It’s just...” Lance trailed off and he squeezed his arms. Keith could feel the nervous energy coming off of him, washing over him and dousing his own. “Can I sit?”

The vulnerability in his voice threw Keith off. It didn’t sit right with him, not liking how it contrasted with the confidence that normally exuded from Lance. He moved over, making sure the flowers were still hidden as Lance sat. Lance rested his arms on his legs, leaning forward and clasping his hands together. Keith fought off the urge to take his hands. 

Lance took a deep breath before he spoke: “I’m scared of fire magick.” Keith furrowed his brows again, and Lance sighed. “My brother, he has fire magick. He would always threaten to set my shirt on fire, and one day he did.” Keith saw Lance’s knuckles turn white from how hard he was squeezing his hands. “He’d always use his magick as a way to get me to do whatever he wanted, and that day, he went too far. Seeing you with fire magick, it makes me scared.” His voice was barely audible as he spoke the last sentence.

“Why?” Keith didn’t really know why he was asking him that. Maybe it was because part of him wanted Lance to not be scared of him. Maybe it was because the larger part that had fallen in love with him wanted to know what he needed to do to be with him.  _ Even if it means I don’t use magick anymore. _ Keith bit his lip, hating the fact that he’d ever thought it.

But it was true. He’d learn a whole new magick if it meant that Lance wouldn’t be scared of him. If it meant that… Keith mentally shook his head, focusing on Lance. Lance turned towards him, looking him in the eye. Ocean eyes stared back at him, stormy from whatever he was thinking about. His normal sparkle was hidden beneath layers of emotions that Keith could never figure out.

Lance reached forward and took one of his hands. Keith jumped, almost pulling away.Lance chuckled a little, his fingers tracing over the lines of Keith’s hand. “They’re warmer than I thought they’d be.” Keith felt his face flush, and he looked down at his hands.

“Yeah, well, fire magick has that effect,” he mumbled, refusing to look at Lance’s face. He heard him laugh. The laugh that reminded him of wind chimes and birdsong. The laugh that could always tug a smile out of him. The laugh that made him look up at him, at sparkling eyes and a soft smile.

“So Mr. Hothead has a sense of humour.” Keith rolled his eyes, but he smiled at him. Lance’s smile widened, his fingers stilling on Keith’s hand. The humour faded from his eyes, softening into something almost fond. It made Keith’s heartbeat pick up. He pulled his hand way, feeling magic starting to gather.

Lance’s smile fell a little, and Keith looked away, down into his lap. “You haven’t answered my question,” he said softly, half-hoping Lance hadn’t heard him. He heard a sigh and saw Lance move out of the corner of his eye, turning his body away and back towards the courtyard in front of them.

“I guess it’s because you’ve become someone special to me,” Lance said. Keith froze, letting the words sink in. His heart started racing again, a sputtering flame forming in his hands. It quivered and shook erratically, shifting this way and that. He closed his hands, channeling that energy into forming Kosmo. The dragon’s head poked out of his hands and peered up at him, blowing a smoke ring.

Kosmo wiggled its way free, flying up and nudging its nose against Keith’s, breaking him from his frozen stupor. He watched the small dragon land on his knee, turning its head to look over at Lance. It jumped over to him, landing in the space between them, and perched its front legs on Lance’s leg. Keith peeked over and saw Lance smiling down at Kosmo.

“Seems like your dragon likes me,” Lance said quietly, scooping Kosmo up. The dragon curled up in his hand as Lance lifted it towards his face. Kosmo blew a smoke ring at him, leaning over the edge of his hand and nudging its nose against Lance’s like it had done with Keith. “I read somewhere that dragons have a way of expressing what their conjurer is feeling.”

Lance turned to look at Keith, and Keith froze under his gaze. He had that fond smile again, what looked to be affection in his eyes. Keith assumed it was towards Kosmo, but something tugged at his heart, telling him it wasn’t, that the affection he saw was for him. “What do you mean by me being special?” Keith asked.

His heart was still racing, but it was no longer from what Lance had said. He pushed his hopeful thoughts out of his mind, focusing on the way the corners of Lance’s eyes crinkled as his smile grew. On the way the lamppost cast a shadow over his features. On the way those blue eyes seemed to glow in the light. On the laughter that floated through the air like a melody finding its way to Keith’s ears.

“Keith.” Lance set Kosmo down on his knee, his hands reaching out to hold Keith’s. The dragon looked between them, its sapphire eyes shining in a reflection of Keith’s hopes. “You’re so much more than just special to me. Your smile lights up a room. Your laugh could put anyone in a good mood. Your magick is stunning, frighteningly so, and yet, you make it look beautiful. _You_ are beautiful.”

Lance’s voice dropped to just above a whisper, and Keith felt like he could barely breathe. Kosmo nudged their hands, its heat keeping Keith grounded. “This past week, all I could think about was you. The way you could make something so dangerous and hard to control look so graceful and elegant. The way you could make something so rare look your own.” Lance paused, looking at him. “The way you could be so rare and yet be here, giving me the chance the say this.”

He squeezed Keith’s hands, and Keith focused on that pressure. He could feel himself warming, could see the faint glow of red between their hands as he glanced down at them. But he couldn’t look away from those ocean eyes for long. Keith swore they were actually glowing, and he felt a coolness against his hands. He looked down, seeing blue seeping into the red, purple sparks popping every once in a while. A calm washed over him, and when he looked back up, Lance was there, waiting for him.

“Keith, I’ve spent this past week really thinking, and I think—” Lance paused, taking a breath. “No, I know. I’ve fallen in love with you.” Lance’s voice was steady despite the slight shake of his hands.  Keith’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at him. He couldn’t think, couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. All he could think about were the words that Lance had said:  _ I’ve fallen in love with you. _

He knew he had been silent for too long. He could see it in the hesitance that had started creeping into Lance’s eyes, could feel it in the way the coolness had started to disappear against his hands. He was frozen, unable to do anything but watch as Lance started to pull away. Kosmo nudged his hands, and it was like a spell had been broken. Keith held onto Lance’s hands tighter, refusing to let them move.

Lance looked at him, biting his lip. Keith closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath before opening them again. “I’ve fallen for you too.” His voice was barely above a whisper, his courage wavering as he spoke despite knowing that Lance felt the same. Lance’s smile widened, his eyes lighting up. Keith was certain now that his eyes were glowing, matching the blue that he could see emanating from his hands.

A smile crept onto Keith’s face, one he knew he couldn’t hide. He didn’t want to. It felt like a weight had been lifted from him. Everything around them looked brighter, more vibrant. Lance gasped, his eyes going wide. “Keith, your eyes, they’re glowing.” Keith laughed, a bubbling that left him without permission, but felt so good.

“Your eyes have been glowing,” Keith said, a little breathless. He didn’t think Lance’s eyes could get any wider, but they did, and he scrambled to pull out his phone. He laughed, loud and boisterous and so wholly Lance that Keith felt himself laugh with him. He leaned back on his hands, his fingers brushing against forgotten flowers. “I actually have something for you.”

Lance looked up from his phone with curiosity in his eyes. Keith wrapped his fingers around the covered stems, holding them against his back. “Close your eyes,” he said. Lance quirked an eyebrow at him, but did as he was told. Keith could see the childlike excitement that Lance was trying to hide. He chuckled, pulling the flowers forward.

The darkening sky let the flowers to glow, their colours mixing and swirling together, varying shades of purple shining off of them. Keith’s hand shook a little as he took Lance’s, turning to face his palm upwards as he set the bouquet in his hands. He saw Lance pull back a little at the sensation, and he smiled. “You can open them.”

Lance blinked down at the flowers, slowly bringing them up to his face. “Wow,” he said softly, turning them this way and that. He brought a hesitant hand towards the fire flowers, and Keith held his breath. Lance trailed a hand over the petals, gaze focused on the shifting flames. Keith watched him, watched his expression change from hesitance to awe to adoration. He turned his attention to the water flowers, his own energy causing them to move slightly.

“Pidge made the water ones. I’m not any good at manipulating anything other than fire,” Keith said sheepishly. Lance looked up at him, a soft smile full of fondness on his features. His eyes were full of affection, and again Keith was hit with the feeling of Lance’s affection being aimed at the flowers rather than him. But he knew otherwise.

Lance set the flowers down on his lap, his eyes always on Keith. “They’re perfect Keith, so very perfect,” he said in a small voice, as though afraid to break the spell of the moment. Keith felt his cheeks flush and he ducked his head, turning his attention to Kosmo. The dragon was watching them, its tail flicking back and forth and wings flapping happily. It blew a smoke ring up at him, circling and flapping its wings.

He chuckled, scooping the little dragon into his hands. Kosmo jumped around in his hands, blowing smoke rings everywhere. Laughter bubbled out of him, and Kosmo grew more excited, flapping its wings and flying around their heads. It blew another smoke ring and an ember of flames shot from its mouth. The dragon froze where it was, looking at where the ember had been before trying again, this time a small stream of flame coming out.

“Well would you look at that, it learned how to breath fire,” Keith said in awe. Kosmo continued to fly around them, shooting small streams of fire. He laughed softly as he watched, smiling proudly as his dragon flew. “Kosmo has become a true dragon.” He voice was soft. He was reminded of how his mother used to call him her dragon, and for once the memory didn’t bring sadness to his heart.

The dragon landed on Keith’s knee, looking up at him with the same pride that he felt, mixed with the excitement of breathing fire. “It reminds me of someone I know,” Lance said in a fond voice. Keith turned to him to see a soft smile. His cheeks flushed again and he turned his attention back to Kosmo, who had decided that it was nap time.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Keith mumbled, stroking the back of his dragon as it fell asleep. He heard Lance laugh softly, his hand going to still Keith’s. Lance took his hand, lacing their fingers together, and Keith stiffened for a second before relaxing.

“So, I like you and you like me. I guess the next logical step is for us to get together,” Lance said nonchalantly. Keith looked over at him, his brow furrowed. Lance tipped his head to the side. “Is that not what people who like each other do? Have I been doing the whole dating thing wrong my whole life?”

Keith laughed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “You’re kind of a dork, you know that?” He didn’t miss the smile Lance gave him, nor did he miss the way Lance squeezed his hand. Keith squeezed back, a little harder. Lance’s smile grew and he smiled back.

“You know you like it,” Lance said, reaching up and poking Keith’s cheek with their entwined hands. Keith rolled his eyes again, looking up at the sky. Lance did the same. “It’s funny, I spent so many nights looking up at these stars, asking them when I’d finally find someone who loved me, and you were there the whole time.” His voice was wistful, soft, pleasant.

Keith hummed in agreement. He scooped Kosmo up in his free hand and gave him one last head rub before dissipating him, the flames flickering before fading. Without the light of his dragon, the flowers were the only source of colour and they refused to be drowned out by the yellow glow of the lamppost.

The wind started to pick up a little, and Keith shivered as a chill washed over him. Lance moved closer, taking their clasped hands and moving them so that they lay against Keith’s lap while Lance’s arm was wrapped around his shoulder. Keith leaned into him, smiling at their closeness.

“I’m gonna have to take you on a date one of these nights,” Lance mumbled, leaning his head against Keith’s. Keith chuckled, looking up at him. Lance smiled, and for a moment the thought of kissing Lance crossed Keith’s mind. He pushed the thought away, deciding that he should wait until they’d been on a date.

“Not unless I beat you to it first,” Keith said with a challenging edge to his voice. Lance laughed, squeezing his shoulder. Keith smiled, watching the way Lance’s eyes closed when he laughed. The way his lips curled into a smile. The way his shoulders shook when he laughed. All of it so wholly Lance.

They stayed out a little longer, sitting huddled together and watching the stars. Neither of them wanted to break the silence. Neither of them wanted to break the spell around them. But Keith yawned, and Lance pulled out his phone to check the time. “We should head back, it’s pretty late,” Lance said. He stood first, offering Keith a hand which he gladly took.

Keith grabbed the bouquet of flowers as he stood, handing it to Lance, before lacing their fingers together, enjoying the way they fit so well together. They took the long way back to the dorms, walking through the trees and listening to the rustling of leaves and cricket sounds.

Keith lived a floor below Lance, so they stopped at his dorm first. He fumbled for his keys as they stood outside his door. Lance chuckled, making Keith’s cheeks flush. “Your blushing has got to be one of the most adorable things about you,” Lance said. Keith’s face grew redder, and he shook his head, his hair falling in his face.

Lance reached forward, brushing it back behind Keith’s ear. His hand lingered there, gently cupping Keith’s cheek. Even though his eyes had stopped glowing while they were still at the library, there was still a light in them, making it hard for Keith to look away. A pull kept him frozen where he was.

“Thank you for tonight Keith,” Lance whispered, voice pitched low. He smiled softly, nodding a little. Keith blinked, and suddenly Lance was closer. “Thank you for telling me about how you feel.” Another step. Keith could feel Lance’s breath on his lips. Keith’s eyes flicked down to Lance’s lips before flicking back up to his eyes.

Lance closed the space between them, their lips meeting. It was hesitant, neither really knowing what to do for a second. But they fell into a comfortable motion. Lance’s hands dropped to Keith’s waist, Keith’s finding their way to Lance’s shoulders. He tasted of strawberries and vanilla, his lips soft against Keith’s own chapped ones.

They split apart, their foreheads pressed together as they looked into each other’s eyes. Keith’s heart hammered in his chest. Lance had a goofy smile, and Keith couldn’t help but smile back. “Wow…” Keith whispered. Lance chuckled a little, nodding.

Keith tipped his head up, meeting Lance’s lips in a quick kiss before stepping back. Lance tried to chase after, but Keith ducked, stepping into his dorm. “I’ll see you tomorrow lover boy,” he said, sending him one last smile before closing the door. He sank against the door, hearing Lance’s laugh filter down the hall. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the door.

“Wow…” He sighed happily, bringing his knees to his chest. He hadn’t thought it would go that well. Hadn’t thought he’d get to kiss Lance. Keith was glad it was a Saturday night. He didn’t think he’d be getting much sleep tonight, not with the way his heart was hammering and the way his thoughts were moving a mile a minute. He couldn’t stop smiling at the thought of Lance being his.

\---

It’d been a month since Keith and Lance had confessed to each other. Lance had shown up to his dorm that morning, insisting on walking him to class. Keith couldn’t tell him no, seeing the way his eyes shone with hope. He doubted he’d ever be able to tell Lance no.

“So, you ready to show off what we can do?” Lance asked, taking Keith’s hand and intertwining their fingers. The familiar weight of Lance’s hand was a reassurance for him, that this wasn’t just some dream he was having, that Lance was really there, that Lance was really his.

“Is that really something you gotta ask?” Keith said, looking up at him. He could see a slight anxiety in Lance’s eyes. Keith squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry love, we’ve got this. Nothing could go wrong.” Lance quirked an eyebrow at him, and Keith laughed at the look, earning a smile from him.

They walked into Shiro’s class and Keith saw Pidge and Hunk huddled together at one of the tables. Lance walked ahead and leaned against Hunk. Keith frowned a little at Lance pulling his hand away, but quickly pushed that feeling away. He walked over to peer over Pidge’s shoulder.

Like Keith with his dragon, Pidge had grown close to their bird, even giving it a name: Rover. Pidge was watching their bird bounce around the table, chasing after Hunk’s horse. They’d built a small field out of clay and ivy. Trees and bushes spread out over the desk. A few small buildings were mixed in. Rover was flitting from tree to tree as it followed Hunk’s horse.

“Looks like Rover is as energetic as ever,” Keith said, holding a hand out for Rover to fly to. It looked at his hand, tilting its head in curiosity, before landing on top of it. The serenity that always came with it washed over Keith, and he smiled, watching as Rover nuzzled against his hand. He rubbed a finger against its cheek, and it chirped happily. “It talks now?”

He turned to look at Pidge, who beamed up at him. “Yeah! Rover learned to do it over the weekend. It was hopping around my desk while I was doing school work and started copying the birds outside.” Their voice was filled with pride as they spoke, and Keith smiled more. Rover chirped, flying over and landing on Pidge’s shoulder.

Keith felt the familiar prickle of electricity from Shiro’s magick along his skin and he heard the class shuffling around as they found their seats. Lance and Hunk took their seats at the table to next to Keith and Pidge’s. Pidge kept giving him a smirk and he rolled his eyes. He knew that they wanted him to sit with Lance, but he and Lance had decided that they’d stay where they were, since it was easier for them to focus on class that way. Lance could be very distracting sometimes.

Shiro walked in, a wide smile on his face. “Good morning class! I’m excited to see what you’ve all come up with since our first class almost three months ago!” His excitement was contagious, and the rest of the class started buzzing. Keith felt himself eagerly awaiting his and Lance’s turn, an unusual thing for him. He looked over at Lance and saw that same energy, a slightly manic smile on his face.

“Mr. Shirogane, can Keith and I go last?” Lance asked. Keith furrowed his eyes, and Lance gave him a quick look and winked before looking back at Shiro. Shiro looked over at Keith, and Keith shrugged. The idea of going last wasn’t one he would’ve chosen, but he knew how Lance wanted to show off, so he didn’t argue against it.

Shiro looked back at Lance, nodding. “I don’t see a problem with that.” He turned to look at the rest of the class, clapping his hands together. “Who would like to go first?” Keith turned to look behind him, seeing James waving his hand wildly. Ryan covered his face, pointedly looking away from James. Keith chuckled, rolling his eyes.

He sat back, watching as each pair went up to show what they’ve accomplished. Ryan and James had created another snow storm, this time trapping it in an air pocket that acted like a snow globe. James conjured a small snow fox, watching as it ran around inside the bubble. Keith had to admit, it was impressive to be able to control that.

Rizavi and Leifsdottir had created leaf patterns on the ground. Rizavi manipulated the sunlight coming in through the windows to pull them into the middle of the room, diffusing enough to not burn anything. Leifsdottir was floating several leaves around, making sure to keep them moving while catching the light. She created several patterns before shooting the leaves into the air, each receiving their own ray of light as they fell to the ground.

Several other pairs went before it was Pidge and Hunk’s turn. They walked out to the front of the room, Hunk pulling a chair with him. They turned to look at each, nodding before starting. Hunk conjured his horse and Pidge conjured Rover. They ran around the top of the chair as they turned their focus to the seat.

Hunk put several small clumps of clay around the seat, haphazardly spread out but still looking as though they were methodically placed. Pidge placed a leaf on top of the mound, the stem sticking out and making it look like a small flag. Keith could see yellow mist coming off the clay, watching it is moved, spreading out and growing tall and thin, stretching to the same height as the back of the chair.

Green mist came off the leaf. Several others sprouted from the sides of the clay, creating small trees. The leaves kept growing catching on each other and creating a dense canopy. A few of the trees had vines crawling down them, crawling along the chair and creating a makeshift field. Pidge and Hunk collected their conjured animals and set them in the field.

Rover started flying through the tree trunks, chirping and creating the illusion of a forest full of birds. Hunk’s horse cantered around the field, weaving between trees. It was always careful to step in the patches between the vines, as though it could sense that there was energy in them. Pidge and Hunk stepped back, smiling proudly as the class watched quietly. Keith found himself smiling proudly at his friends, and he knew Lance was doing the same.

“This is fantastic you two! You’ve definitely come a long way since our first class,” Shiro praised, resting a hand on their shoulders. Hunk smile turned sheepish while Pidge’s grew more proud. “Alright, while you two get things cleaned up, it’s time for our final pair. Lance, Keith, you’re up.”

Keith stood, stretching his arms over his head. His excitement was slowly being overtaken by nervousness. He turned and looked at Lance, seeing the same in his eyes. He still had that slight manic smile, but it was more reserved than it had been before. “Let’s give them a show,” Lance said, his tone cocky, completely hiding anything he felt.

Keith rolled his eyes, some of the tension leaving as he walked forward. “Knock them dead, cryptid hunter,” Pidge said, patting his arm as they passed him. He sent them a quick glare before taking their spot. Lance took Hunk’s, giving him a questioning look. Keith shook his head, sending Pidge another glare.

“Alright, the floor is yours.” Shiro stepped back to his desk, leaning against it as he watched them. Keith took a breath, his magick started to flicker in his hands from his nerves. He looked to Lance. Lance had a calm look in his eyes, a reassuring smile.

“We’ve got this, remember?” Lance said, his voice quiet, meant only for Keith to hear. It was low, soft, calming, like his magick. It washed over Keith and he nodded. He brought his hands up, producing a small flame. He focused on keeping the flame steady, barely any warmth coming off of it.

He transferred the flame to his right hand, bringing it up higher. Lance brought water to the underside of his hand. Keith shivered at the cold, watching Lance smile a little. The water engulfed his hand, surrounding the flame in a small sphere. He grew the flame more in his hand, orange light fighting its way through the blue of the water. The air bubble inside expanded, the water sphere growing in size.

Keith closed his eyes, focusing his energy on the flame. When he opened them again, Kosmo was there, peering up at him through the water. Its tail flicked through the edge of the air pocket. The dragon blew a smoke ring, watching it float up into the water and dispersing into it.

He pulled his hand away and Kosmo fell until its feet hit the water with a sizzle. Its wings spread out, the dragon flying around in the space it had. Keith looked to Lance, who nodded. He closed his eyes, the water starting to freeze. Keith kept his eyes on Kosmo, willing the dragon to stay calm as the water froze. The ice turned frosty from the outside air but soon turned clear, allowing them to see Kosmo inside.

The dragon continued to fly around the space, blowing smoke rings to let Keith know it was alright. Lance opened his eyes, and Keith could see them starting to glow. “You ready?” Lance said. Keith nodded, bringing his hands forward and resting them on Lance’s. He closed his eyes, focusing on the coolness of the ice, of Lance’s hands, and infusing his warmth into them without burning Lance or melting the ice.

He could see the purple glow before he opened his eyes. The sphere lit up from the inside, a lavender colour on the inside and a violet colour on the outside, the colours blending together. Kosmo was bright red where it flew, its eyes shining a brilliant sapphire colour. He knew his eyes were glowing the same way Lance’s were. He could tell by the smile Lance sent him, from the gasps he heard from the class.

“You think it’s time?” Keith asked, keeping his voice soft. Lance looked around the room, seeing the way that everyone was entranced in their magick. He turned back to Keith, nodding. Keith looked down at Kosmo, seeing the dragon looking at him. It sent him a smoke ring, turning its head towards the top of the sphere. A large stream of fire shot from him, melting the ice and coming out the top.

Where the flame met the ice, purple sparks flew, shower down on them. The sparks hit their hands, and Keith felt affection, happiness, excitement, and he knew they were coming from Lance. He laughed, a laugh that surprised him, one that was pure joy. Lance joined with him, and Kosmo shot out the top, flying around the room. A red spark weaving between desks and over heads.

The dragon flew over to them and perched on Keith’s shoulder. He smiled at it, letting go the ice sphere with one and scratching the dragon. “Great job buddy. You did really well,” Keith said. Kosmo blew a smoke ring, nuzzling into Keith’s shoulder. Keith smiled, bringing his hand back to the ice.

“Time for the grand finale,” Lance said, giving him a wink. Keith smiled, watching Lance close his eyes. He did the same. He focused all his energy on the ice, seeing it glow brighter and brighter. He pictured it going up in sparks, and felt a weight leave his hands. There were gasps from the class, and he opened his eyes, seeing purple sparks raining down everywhere.

People reached their hands out to catch them, smiles and laughter spreading around the room. Lance laughed, his ringing out above everyone’s, and Keith’s smile grew wider, his cheeks starting to hurt. He looked into glowing blue eyes crinkled with happiness, and they looked back at him, affection and adoration clear in them.

“We did it. We are a good team,” Lance said. Keith nodded, his hands cupping Lance’s. As the sparks dissipated, the room grew quiet. Shiro stepped forward, clapping, and soon the room exploded with cheers. Lance turned towards them, taking one of Keith’s hands and pulling him into a bow. He followed suit, laughing.

“That was amazing you two. Truly amazing,” Shiro said. Keith smiled sheepishly, while Lance’s smile grew proud. “I think it’s clear that you two have made the most of this class so far. You can take your seats now.” Keith nodded, pulling Lance with him as the sat down. Kosmo crawled down his arm, curling up on the desk.

“That wraps up today’s class. I’m letting you guys out early for doing such an amazing job.” Shiro turned to look at Keith, keeping his eyes on him as he spoke. “I’m very proud of all the work you’ve done so far, and I’m excited to see how the rest of the year pans out.” He clapped his hands and a bolt of lightning spread out across the ceiling. “Now go and enjoy your free time.”

Keith dissipated Kosmo, sighing in relief at their magick working. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned his head to see Lance offering him a hand. He took it, lacing their fingers together as they walked towards the door. He didn’t miss the smile Shiro sent him as they passed. Pidge and Hunk followed them, talking about other things they could do with their magick.

They still had an hour until Allura’s class, so they decided to go outside to the courtyard and relax there. Keith led them to one of the larger trees a little ways away from everything. He let go of Lance’s hand and climbed the tree and settled onto one of the branches. Lance followed him up and sat next to him. Pidge and Hunk decided against sitting up in the tree, choosing to sit against the trunk instead.

Keith leaned against Lance and Lance wrapped his arm around his shoulders. They listened to the birdsong filtering through the leaves. Keith was aware of the way the leaves were moving, responding to Pidge’s magick rather than the wind. A vine found its way to his foot, wrapping itself around his ankle. He kicked it away, dropping his shoe to land next to Pidge and making them jump.

They grabbed it and held it hostage. Keith laughed. He knew he’d have to get it back before class. But for now, he was content on sitting there, his friends below him and his boyfriend beside him. He was content in knowing that he’d found someone who accepted his magick, someone who didn’t expect him to give it up. He was content in knowing that despite everything, he’d found someone who loved him who he loved back.

“Thank you mom,” Keith whispered, barely audible. Lance looked at him, giving him a curious look. Keith shook his head, smiling at him. One day he’d tell Lance about his mom, about his dragon, about his magick. One day he’d explain everything. Today, he’d live in the moment. In the peace and happiness and love he had. Today, he’d live freely for the first time in years.


End file.
